Why The Thought Counts
by MayrisErin
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and Lee wanted to spend time with Sakura. He trusts Naruto to give her the invitation to meet him at a rendezvous...was it a smart idea to trust Naruto? A LeeIno, NarutoHinata, and SakuraSasuke fic. Merry Christmas!


**Author's Note: **I'm not very good at these, but here's the jist of it. This story is dedicated to my friends in real life as well as any Naruto fans. I openly accept comments. The warning: pairing is primarily Lee/Ino, dedicated to my friends from college. I love them both and I promised them I'd make them a fanfic like this a while back. Anyway, this is for them. There are two other pairings: Sasuke/Sakura and Naruto/Hinata. I added Jiraiya 'cause he's awesome! Pervy sage rules!!! j/k. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Happy EARLY Christmas, my friends and readers!

**Story start:**

Rock Lee smiled as he reread the note that he tried to perfect over and over again. It was to Sakura Haruno. He blushed as he thought about her image; her short pink hair that swayed so gently in the wind, and her clear, vivid green eyes. He longed to reach out to her, to have her notice him.

One nuisance stood in the young ninja's way. Its name was Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha. How he loathed and envied Uchiha. Even thinking about the raven headed snob almost caused him to rip the letter.

It was Christmas Eve. He wanted to spend the evening with Sakura and tell her how he truly felt about her and what she did to him when he was around her. He blushed at the thought, picturing her beautiful, innocent smile.

A snowball hit the shudders of one of the windows, causing it to burst open. Lee ducked as a round flew into through the kitchen window. Obnoxious laughing could be heard outside. Lee peeked out through the open shudder to see Naruto Uzumaki holding his stomach from laughing. "Hey, Lee," the blond-headed boy called. "Come out and fight!"

"What's this about, Uzumaki?!" Lee yelled clutching the letter tightly to his chest.

"It's snowing and it's not healthy for you to lock yourself in your house! Come out and be a kid for once! You may be a ninja, but that doesn't mean you have to live like a hermit!" he shouted.

Lee jumped out through the window and walked up to Naruto, face red with anger. "How dare you insult my ways of training!" he yelled.

"Ooh…is someone defensive?" Naruto smirked sarcastically.

"Knock it off, Naruto!"

"What'cha gonna do, green boy?" A snowball hit Naruto's face, causing him to fall over.

"C'mon, you want a battle, you've got one!" Lee said beginning on a fort.

A few hours passed before the sun rose high at noon. Lee looked up and gasped. He had to meet with Gai-sensei for a mission briefing that would be taken into action the day after tomorrow. "Naruto, I need you to do something for me," Lee said blushing madly.

"Huh..?" Naruto said peeking over his mound of snow. "What?"

Lee stood right in front of him bowing low. "I need...I need…" he felt himself go red with embarrassment. "I need you to deliver this to Sakura!" he said holding out a sealed envelope with the letter inside.

Naruto reached up and took the envelope in his hands, gazing down at it with squinted eyes. "Why should I?"

"B-because I can't! I have to go meet Gai-sensei! Just deliver the letter, okay?!" Lee said and ran off to meet his sensei in Konoha forest where he trained.

Naruto glanced down at the letter. "Hey, I bet this is a…" he paused.

"A love letter?" an all too familiar voice behind him said.

Naruto jumped, almost dropping the letter, but catching it before it fell to the ground. He turned to find no one other than Jiraiya hanging upside-down from the branch of a tree. "Pervy sage, what the heck are you doing here?!" he demanded pointing a finger at him.

"Just my job as a novelist," the tall white-haired ninja said as he dropped from the branch and landed sitting pretzel style on the ground. "So…the green ninja is going to tell Sakura Haruno how he feels?" he smirked.

"Yeah, but I feel kinda sorry for him. It's hard to accept rejection. The first time Sakura met Lee she was really creeped out. I don't know how he'll take it now," Naruto said looking down at the letter.

Jiraiya smiled. "Young love is so cute and unpredictable. There's no telling where it could end up in the end."

"Eh…?" Naruto said looking over with a clueless expression. "You talk too much, pervy sage."

"Maybe you're just not listening. Just do as Lee requested and give Miss Haruno the letter."

Naruto groaned. "Fine…" he said before slumping off. "Why do I have to waste my time and effort into helping that dunce of a ninja?" Naruto sighed in frustration.

He reached the threshold of Sakura's house and raised his hand to knock on the door. The door opened before his hand could make contact with the surface. In the doorway stood a dazed, dreamy eyed Sakura Haruno with clasped hands who smiled when she saw Naruto. She reached out and grabbed his hands. He blushed madly at her actions as she stared dreamily right into his eyes. "Guess what, Naruto!"

He blushed even more afraid to ask. "Wh-what…?" he finally managed.

"Sasuke Uchiha invited me to meet him by the river this evening!" she squealed. "I'm so happy!" she was nearly in tears of excitement.

Naruto looked away. "That's very nice, Sakura," he said tucking the letter secretly into one of his pockets. Not too far away, Jiraiya watched Naruto's actions, a clear smirk on his face the whole time. "So, you're going to be busy tonight then?" he said looking back at her.

"Of course I am!" she chimed.

Naruto managed a smile. "I'm happy for you, Sakura." He knew she only liked him as a friend at that point and her head was filled with thoughts of Sasuke causing her to ignore those closest to her. Lee had no chance. Naruto knew this and, in a sense, maybe Lee knew it too.

The time passed by and Naruto accompanied Sakura to gift shops to help her get something for Sasuke. "What about this?" Sakura asked holding up a shuriken.

Naruto shook his head. "He's got plenty of those," he answered. "How about you get him nothing, it's not like he deserves anything," he said.

"That's mean. He went through the trouble of inviting me to spend Christmas Eve with him. He deserves something for that," she argued.

Naruto wanted to say something against it and started to pull out the envelope from Lee, but shoved it back into his jacket.

Sakura settled on getting him a chain necklace made of onyx stones. It was average price and reasonable for its worth. She hummed as she clutched the bag with her left hand. "Hey, Naruto, I've gotta go get ready for tonight. Catch ya later?" she asked.

"Sure," Naruto said with a smile and a wave. He stuck his hands inside his pockets and started whistling as he walked. He heard someone trip and fall behind him as a door was slammed. Soft gasping could be heard. Naruto turned quickly and saw Hinata on the ground breathing rapidly. "Hinata! Are you alright?!" Naruto scrambled to her side."

"N-Naruto…" she breathed blushing and looking away. "I-I'm fine…it's just that…well…" she stammered getting to her feet and fidgeting with her fingers as she always did. "…it's just that…I wanted to get something special for someone…but the owner kicked me out…because I accidentally knocked something over…"

"Is that all? Don't worry, Hinata. I can go get it for you," he smiled.

"Huh…?! N-no! It's alright! I'll go back in and apologize. Don't worry!" she said as she apprehensively walked back in the store and apologized to the owner helping him pick up the knocked over rack of books and putting them in their respective places. She bowed several times before walking out holding a package. Naruto had leaned against the store's wall and waited for her patiently.

Hinata blushed as he looked over at her. "Did you find what you wanted?" he asked kindly.

"Um…yes…" she said as she looked away.

"Hey, who's it for anyway?" he asked examining it from afar. "It looks pretty big. A secret lover, Hinata?" he asked in a teasing way.

"N-no! It's not that at all! I would never—" she said fearfully.

He put a hand up to stop her. "I know. I was just being sarcastic, Hinata. Hey, so who's it for anyway?"

She looked up at him and then quickly looked back down. "It's…for a special friend…" she sighed. She then closed her eyes and shoved it out toward Naruto. "Here!" she yelled.

Naruto looked at the package a little dumbfounded but accepted it as she handed it out to him. She winced and kept her head down as she heard him open the wrapping. He pulled out several issues of magazines with explicit covers. "Hi-Hinata…what is this?" he stammered gazing down at the pictures of women in bikinis blushing ever so slightly.

"Um…well…" she began fidgeting again. "I saw you looking at them one day. You seemed so excited. I thought you might like them…"

Naruto laughed nervously. He then cleared his throat. "You went in there and bought these for me?" she nodded eyes still closed. He smiled and gently embraced her. She gasped and looked up, her head resting a little above his shoulder. A light blush accompanied her cheeks. "N-Naruto…" she said shakily.

"Thank you for going through the trouble. It's not the magazines that count…it's the thought," he said. He stood there and embraced her as people passed. No one commented. The world was silent. Slowly, but surely, she reached up her arms and embraced him back, pressing her cheek against his warm shoulder and closing her eyes. A smile crept upon her face as the sun began setting.

**meanwhile**

Lee finished the briefing with Gai-sensei. He rushed to the floral shop and bought a bouquet of bright crimson roses. He knew Sakura was a beautiful rose and deserved nothing less. The sun began setting and he rushed to the meeting spot he had written in the letter. He waited by the fountain as many couples passed, arm in arm.

**meanwhile**

Ino Yamanaka walked along the outskirts of the village, by the river. Her hair tied in a small bun atop her head. She smiled as she watched the sun kiss the glimmering water packed with snow along the edges. The sight was breathtaking. There was a rumor that Sasuke would be hanging by the river on Christmas Eve. She paced about looking around her surroundings to see if she could spot him.

Upon coming to a small glade, she heard whispering. Recognizing a voice to be Sasuke's she hid behind a thick tree. She peeked out from the other side to catch a glimpse of Sasuke holding Sakura's hands and speaking to her low and deep; the kind of voice that made you quiver where you stood and made you realize that someone really cared about you. Ino clenched her fist as she saw Sasuke lean in to Sakura and place a chaste kiss upon her lips. Ino ran from the scene, feeling betrayed by her best friend for stealing away the one she loved. Tears streamed down her face as she ran into Konoha square. She collapsed on her knees as the tears came flowing out.

The streets were abandoned by that time as people began to grow tired and retreat to places of secluded settings or indoors to get away from the blistering cold. Ino felt her hands shiver against the cold of the ice. Her soft complexion paled from the bitter cold and her heart sank at the memory of the forbidden moment.

She felt warmth wrap around her. Thin, strong arms embraced her and held her close to the owner's body, returning the warmth to her frigid form. She felt a tear fall upon her hand. She thought it was her own until the person embracing her shook with light sobs. "A-are you alright, Miss Yamanaka?" a familiar soft voice asked.

The boy's voice was full of mixed emotions, yet in all his inner conflictions, he was able to care for her and ask her how she felt. In response, Ino took her hand and placed it upon one of his that was wrapped around her form. "Lee, I'm alright," she managed to say without breaking down.

Lee's grip tightened. "I didn't want…to be alone on Christmas Eve…" he began sobbing more. "Would…would you mind…spending Christmas with me…Miss Yamanaka…?" he said as his voice cracked slightly from crying.

Ino couldn't help herself. She felt so close to Lee; so close that she could feel her heartbeat sync with his. Such a close friend he had been for such a long time. She wanted to stay embraced in his warmth and not feel alone. A sense of belonging overwhelmed her and she broke out into uncontrollable tears. "I…I…would like to spend this time with you, Lee…" she managed to say as she turned to face him and hugged him tightly closing her eyes and shaking from the tears that fell in streams down her face. He held her closely as snow began to fall yet again. The bouquet of roses rested upon the stone of the fountain and waved in the delicate wind. There was a place to belong…a place of happiness within despair. They all found it and they would keep it.


End file.
